Martyn Bennett
Department of History, Languages and Global Studies
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Martyn Bennett
“Nick Lipscombe's The English Civil War is a joy to behold a thing of beauty, but much more than that book is clearly of no small importance. I am convinced that this will be the first port of call for all enthusiasts and scholars looking for a cartographic interpretation of the civil wars. This will be the civil war atlas against which all others will judged and the battle maps in particular will quickly become the benchmark for all future civil war maps.” (from Amazon)
by Nick Lipscombe·You?
A lavishly presented atlas of the English Civil Wars, the conflicts that ravaged the countryside of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland from 1639 to 1651. The English Civil Wars (1638–51) comprised the deadliest conflict in history fought on British soil, in which brother took up arms against brother, father fought against son, and towns, cities, and villages fortified themselves in the cause of Royalists or Parliamentarians. Although much historical attention has focused on the events in England and the key battles of Edgehill, Marston Moor, and Naseby, this was a conflict that engulfed the entirety of the Three Kingdoms and led to a trial and execution that profoundly shaped the British monarchy and Parliament. This beautifully presented atlas tells the whole story of Britain's revolutionary civil war, from the earliest skirmishes of the Bishops Wars in 1639–40 through to 1651, when Charles II's defeat at Worcester crushed the Royalist cause, leading to two decades of Stuart exile. Each map is supported by a detailed text, providing a complete explanation of the complex and fluctuating conflict that ultimately meant that the Crown would always be answerable to Parliament.